I don't know if the project's happening, but I don't know what about this proves that Rosenthal doesn't have his shit together. It's not like there are tons of other air rights developments going up and he's the odd man out.

I'm not big on tax breaks as you all know but I don't think this can happen with 4.6 Million in tax incentives. Walsh is reaching out so I think he would be willing work with the developer if he needs more breaks.

This might be too economically complicated and I hope Walsh does not go down this path.
This could backfire quickly on the New Mayor. As you give handouts everybody is going to want them.

I don't know if the project's happening, but I don't know what about this proves that Rosenthal doesn't have his shit together. It's not like there are tons of other air rights developments going up and he's the odd man out.

Exactly. It's not like Rosenthal hasn't developed anything before - he has. The problem is that no one will take the risk of financing air-rights if there are solid ground projects to be had, even in a city that is booming.

The public pays to deck it, or it doesn't get decked. It's that simple. It accomplishes nothing for MassDOT to keep fooling themselves by having these competitions, handing out the rights and then watching for ten years as nothing happens. Build davem's boulevard and have done with it.

Walsh is smartly doing a Belichick/Kraft here. The tax break money only comes if he meets performance.

It's great that the tax break isn't guaranteed, but it's also not proper motivation. As others have pointed out, it's a tiny fraction of the total project financing, small enough that it can't possibly make the project viable. Rosenthal is bluffing, because he needs another excuse to delay the project and kick the can down the road.

Making a tax break which wouldn't make building possible conditional on building just isn't productive, though it does have the handy benefit of saving the city the money when the project inevitably dies. You're calling his bluff, but it doesn't solve anything.

Now, the city and developer can both deflect blame by tossing it back at the other, when the blame really lies with the financing sources who will never ever take the risk and increased cost of air rights construction, and reasonably so (see Flaherty, Ned). Really, the tax break and its conditions are a silly distraction. There needs to be a high-level change in approach if the Pike is ever to be covered.

Boston regulators on Thursday approved a $4.6 million tax break to spur construction of a new neighborhood near Fenway Park that would include hundreds of apartments, stores, restaurants, and offices.

The tax deal for the $550 million Fenway Center development, negotiated by Mayor Martin J. Walsh, received unanimous support from the board of the Boston Redevelopment Authority. It is intended to help developer John Rosenthal obtain private funding by improving the project’s finances during construction and the first year of operation.

I give this a 2-3% chance of any phases going forward. Even in the unlikely event of the decking + garage phase actually going up, there's an infinitesimally small chance of any urban buildings going up in our lifetimes.

A protester showed up at the BRA meeting to object to the tax break, but was shut down ("Not a public meeting"). Brian Golden did suggest that she try petitioning the upcoming city council meeting instead.

The City Council is set to vote Wednesday on a proposed tax deal for an ambitious $550 million housing, office and retail complex envisioned for land across from Fenway Park and partly over the Massachusetts Turnpike.

Meredith Management proposes four mixed-use residential and retail buildings and a parking garage covering 4.5 acres around the Yawkey Commuter Rail Station that the Newton-based company recently renovated for the MBTA.

The Fenway Center project would be located directly across from the Boston Red Sox's storied ballpark and straddle one of the state's primary jobs centers, the nearby Longwood Medical area, home to Harvard Medical School and some of New England's major hospitals.

Meredith Management President John Rosenthal, among a handful of people who testified at City Hall on Monday, said the project would be the first built in Boston over the eight-lane Massachusetts Turnpike since the Copley Place shopping mall in the 1980s. He said it's a costly and complicated endeavor that requires building a roughly $40 million deck over the turnpike to support a parking garage and other structures.

The company is seeking roughly $4.6 million in property tax savings over six years. Rosenthal said the project would generate about 1,800 construction jobs, 126 permanent jobs and more than $5 million in annual property taxes.

The proposed tax deal, already endorsed by Mayor Martin Walsh and the city's redevelopment agency, also requires state approval.

It calls for a three-year property tax exemption, starting in the 2016 budget year. The developer would then pay an increasing share of property taxes until it reaches full tax payment in fiscal 2022. The project also will pay the state $226 million over 99 years to lease land it owns in the 4.5-acre site.

Labor unions representing carpenters and other building trades strongly endorsed the project on Monday. But some area residents questioned whether the tax deal was necessary.

"Simple common sense tells you that claiming that a project that will generate over $3 billion in profits lives or dies at the hands of a $4.6 million tax break is ludicrous on its face," Steve Wintermeier said.

So this project should be good to go, according to Rosenthal's previous comments. I'm still skeptical that Rosenthal can/will pull this off, but my opinion is that this tax break was a no brainer. These turnpike/air rights projects obviously need all the help they can get, and if this project can go forward then maybe it provides some momentum to other air rights projects.

I think it's time to just give everyone building over the Pike a tax break. You're replacing something that currently produces zero tax revenue with something that will eventually produce a lot of tax revenue. It'd be one thing if developers had spent the last 30 years decking like crazy, but they haven't. Seriously, it's been how many years since the Pru was built, and we're still looking at a trench? Let's get on this, please.

I think it's time to just give everyone building over the Pike a tax break. You're replacing something that currently produces zero tax revenue with something that will eventually produce a lot of tax revenue. It'd be one thing if developers had spent the last 30 years decking like crazy, but they haven't. Seriously, it's been how many years since the Pru was built, and we're still looking at a trench? Let's get on this, please.

I think a better option would be for the state to deck the pike from South Station to BU West using state funds and then auction off the parcels. That way they'd get an immediate cash flow to offset the construction costs, and they'd be able to attract some more risk averse developers who can't/won't do the decking themselves.

The new property taxes from the buildings built on the deck, along with increased property values from buildings adjacent to the pike, would more than pay for the cost of construction.